I'm the Only Wizard Climbing the Tower - Chapter 146

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.

Chapter 146

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Yu Seunghee.

I knew that person well too.

A famous figure every citizen of King Korea would know.

Wasn't that bastard the embodiment of betrayal, who had been supported and raised in Korea before heading off to the United States?

Choi Yejin huffed angrily as she held the phone.

“That bastard is showing his face in London?! That piece of shit. Does he have no conscience?!”

-I heard he'll be attending as part of the delegation. I thought I should tell you in case you didn't know.

“Wasn't that bastard someone who never showed his face at international events? What the hell got into him that he's crawling over to London?”

-He recently reached Floor 48, so I suppose he gained some confidence. He used to avoid official events because he was conscious of public opinion.

“Fuck... That guy is on Floor 48 now?”

-Well, you and Taeseok hyung taught him very well, Master. He was quite talented too.

“Fucking hell.”

It seemed Yu Seunghee had gained confidence after reaching Floor 48 and was starting to show their face on the international stage.

Well, Floor 48 did make them fairly capable among the mediocre.

It was enough to make anyone confident.

Choi Yejin let out a deep sigh.

“Phew... Fine. What can I do if they're coming? See you later.”

-Yes. I'll see you in London, Master.

Click.

The call ended.

Choi Yejin set down her smartphone and spat out a short curse.

“Of all people, that bastard is coming too. I was just looking forward to seeing the others again.”

“Yu Seunghee is someone you and Kim Taeseok trained too, right? I saw their name in the comments when I was looking through his old strategy guide posts.”

“That's right. I didn't know they were that kind of bastard back then.”

It was a name I had seen in one of Kim Taeseok's old strategy guide posts.

They had left a comment asking what he thought about immigrating to Europe.

They ended up going to the United States, but it seemed they had been planning to leave Korea from the beginning.

Then Yejin slowly opened her mouth.

“Back in my day... we had it fucking rough. There was no proper system for Hard-rank Hunters or anything. There were no strategies, no equipment, and we didn't even know what was dangerous. We climbed the Tower by throwing ourselves into it.”

“As expected, the first generation of mediocres lived in an age of barbarism.”

“Shut the fuck up. So many people really died.”

“Ah... Right...”

Yejin clicked her tongue and continued.

“When Taeseok and I were climbing, barely anyone understood how valuable Hard-rank Hunters were. We just thought we were strong Hunters, and even the country had no idea how it should support us.”

“Well, that was how it was in the Tower's early days.”

In the Tower's early days, people did not understand the true value of Hard-rank Hunters.

Then time passed.

The true value of Hard-rank Hunters gradually became clear.

Hard-rank Hunters.

The minimum qualification needed to reach the Tower's Highest Floors, Floor 41 and beyond.

People who earned millions of Points each month.

“By the time that bastard Yu Seunghee awakened, things were completely different from my time. Everyone already knew that Hard-rank Hunters were vital talents who would keep the country alive.”

Yu Seunghee was the most recently awakened among Korea's Hard-rank Hunters.

“So we treated that bastard like gold and jade. Even while we were short on Points, we gave them tons for activating artifacts. We handed over every Grade 1 artifact the national treasury had. We gave them training facilities. Taeseok and I carried them whenever we had time, trained them...”

“You must have spent a lot of money.”

“Money? It wasn't just money. Taeseok, the others, and I took fucking good care of them. Every time that bastard entered the Tower, we took all the monsters head-on so they wouldn't die. We raised their Floor like we were spoon-feeding porridge to a baby.”

“Hmm...”

I had heard Yu Seunghee received all kinds of benefits.

But it seemed they had been raised with far more care than I expected.

“But that fucking bastard. After we raised them so carefully, they ran off the moment America said it would pay more.”

Choi Yejin ground her teeth, looking absolutely furious.

Honestly, it was understandable.

A newbie she had carefully raised stabbed her in the back and fled the country. How absurd and empty must that have felt?

Tsk!

Choi Yejin clicked her tongue hard.

Then she muttered quietly.

“Fine... Fine, whatever. I get it. They offered a shitload of money, so of course it could tempt someone. But if that bastard had any conscience, shouldn't they at least keep their head down afterward?”

What came after was something everyone in the country knew.

Even after going to the United States, Yu Seunghee did not live quietly.

They said Korea's Hunter system was backward.

They said Korea was doomed to collapse from a Point shortage anyway.

Day after day, they brought up Korea while boasting that they had made the right choice.

“That bastard accepted every bit of support they could get, then spent years talking shit about the country that raised them like it was pathetic. That's why it's so fucking irritating.”

“Hmm...!”

I slowly nodded.

I already knew they were an unforgivable traitor, but hearing it from someone who had been betrayed the hardest by that traitor...

It made me hate them even more!

I shouted.

“Yu Seunghee... You little... you little traitor!!! As the Extreme Lunatic Hell Patriotic Admiral Yi Hunter, you are a bastard I can never forgive! A traitor who betrayed King Korea will not be forgiven by me, Baek Jiho!”

“God, you're loud. Why is this skinny bastard's voice so powerful?”

“It’s me.”

The blood of the traitor slayer boiled within me!

As I was throwing a fit, something suddenly came to mind.

“Wait... A traitor...? There is one traitor here too.”

I glanced aside.

At the end of my gaze was none other than Hyeji.

I spoke quietly.

“There is a traitor right here.”

“Eek...!”

Hyeji flinched and drew back her neck.

Looking intimidated, she struggled to defend herself.

“W-Why am I a traitor?!”

“You were going to immigrate! You traitor! Betrayer of King Korea! It wasn't enough that you dreamed of immigrating to America, you even made money betting on the Korean won crashing! You're like a Japanese colonial cop!”

“Back then, it really seemed like the country was going to collapse... I had no idea you would become like this, Jiho... No, how many times are you going to bring this up just because I thought about immigrating once?! Stop it already!”

“Silence! Do not make excuses!”

The darkest place was right under the lamp!

To think there was a traitor dreaming of leaving Korea so close to me!

As I was thoroughly scolding Hyeji...

“Wait. You were planning to immigrate?”

Choi Yejin suddenly began looking at Hyeji with cold eyes.

What was this?

“Na Hyeji. Did you really plan to immigrate to America?”

“What? Yes... It was not long after I met Jiho. Back then, it really seemed like the country was going to collapse.”

“I am disappointed in you, Na Hyeji.”

“What? No...?!”

Choi Yejin looked at Hyeji with disgust.

Hyeji stared back with her mouth hanging open in shock.

Was Yejin actually serious?

Her patriotism was the real thing.

Anyway!

“So I'll see Yu Seunghee in London.”

“Don't cause trouble for no reason.”

“When have I ever caused trouble?”

“...I'm already worried.”

Anyway, Yu Seunghee.

Wait for me, you traitor.

I will show you the fierce side of the Extreme Lunatic Hell Patriotic Admiral Yi Hunter in London!

* * *

The next morning, I checked the news while mixing rice into my sister's soybean paste stew.

[Halted factories resume operations in succession. New hiring begins.]

[Official announcement from the Presidential Office: “Return of Hunters kidnapped by Japan has begun.”... Hunters return to their homeland.]

[Korea escapes fears of Point depletion. Will consumer and investment sentiment recover?]

[Extreme Lunatic Hell Group rumored to be purchasing a headquarters building.]

[One week until the regular London Convention meeting... “World's Highest Floor Hunters gather.”]

...

I nodded with a satisfied expression.

“I can see Korea steadily returning to normal! This must also be thanks to this great one's grace.”

Until recently, King Korea had been full of bad news every time I turned on the television.

Points were collapsing, the economy was collapsing, national security was being devastated. In the middle of all that...

I could feel that the country was truly going to hell.

But thanks to this great one, the Extreme Lunatic Hell Patriotic Admiral Yi Hunter, stepping forward...

King Korea was rapidly returning to normal and steadily regaining stability!

It was simply satisfying.

“Citizens of King Korea, just trust in me! I'll save all of you!”

“Jiho, rice is flying everywhere. Eat more quietly.”

“It’s me.”

Korea is open for business!

Good, let's keep this up!

As I sat there grinning happily...

“Oh, right. Jiho, there's something I want to show you. Look at it while you eat.”

Click.

My sister opened her laptop and showed me something.

A list was displayed on the screen.

“This is the list of Hunters attending the London Convention. The National Intelligence Service sent it over. Take a look.”

It was the attendance list for the regular London Convention meeting.

I chewed as I looked through it.

I didn't plan to talk much with anyone there anyway, so I intended to give it a quick look and put it away.

But then...

[David Valdez / United States / Floor 50]

[Jackson Holt / United States / Floor 50]

[Yu Seunghee / United States / Floor 48]

...

[Baek Jiho / Republic of Korea / Floor 45]

Sssk.

An involuntary intake of breath slipped out through my teeth.

Looking at that list...

That number, 45, beside my name...

It felt really lame.

No. I was clearly much stronger, but the others were on Floors 48 and 50 while I was on Floor 45.

People who did not know us would only see the numbers and think I was beneath them!

“Noona. When does the London Conference start?”

“There should be one week left.”

“One week...”

I counted on my fingers for a moment.

I was on Floor 45 now.

If I cleared Floor 45 today, I would reach Floor 46.

46, 47, 48.

49, 50...

And then 51.

If I climbed one floor a day starting today...

In exactly six days, I would clear Floor 50 and become a Floor 51 Hunter!

What a relief.

“Phew! At least I won't lose face there.”

“Lose face over what?”

“My climbing floor. This great one is an Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter. I can't have a lower climbing floor than those Hard-rank mediocres!”

If I kept climbing one floor a day as I had been doing...

By the time the London Conference began, I would have broken the world record and become the world's only Hunter of the Highest of the Highest Floors!

At that point, I would not lose face before those mediocres.

My sister gave me a worried look at my ambition.

“Jiho... Is that possible? No matter what, isn't Floor 50 pushing yourself too hard? Even David nearly died there. I know you're amazing, but still...”

“Oh, Noona. You still don't know me. Who am I? The Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter! The word impossible isn't in my dictionary!”

Even now, in the Highest Floors, I was clearing them while slaughtering monsters.

Even if Floor 50 was a boss floor, I had more than enough confidence that I could win without difficulty.

Well, unless a Dragon appeared...

...There wouldn't be a Dragon, right?

Come on, no way.

Even if it was the boss floor of the Highest Floors, there was no way a ridiculously overpowered race like Dragons would appear.

Anyway!

“So don't worry, Noona. I'll quickly become world number one and make you the sister of the world's number one Hunter.”

“...Don't push yourself for such a strange reason. You never know, so always be careful.”

My sister worried about me as always.

Seriously, my sister worried too much.

Even though I had become the Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter and had reached the Highest Floors, she still worried about me.

My days as a convenience store clerk must have made me seem that unreliable.

I was such a sinful little brother.

Anyway, I had eaten a hearty breakfast.

I muttered quietly.

“Should I head to the Tower soon?”

It was rare for me to start clearing a floor early in the morning.

I waited for my party members.

“Enter the Tower.”

[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 45)]

[Na Hyeji (Republic of Korea: Floor 45)]

[Choi Yejin (Republic of Korea: Floor 45)]

[Please select the floor you wish to enter.]

“Floor 45.”

[Entering Tower Floor 45.]

The clearing of Floor 45 began.

* * *

Flash!

The bright glow faded.

I slowly looked over my surroundings.

“This is a wasteland again.”

The landscape around us was quite similar to what I had seen on the previous Highest Floors.

Parched ground and scattered trees.

The trees were drying up and dying, while the grass on the ground was yellow and withered.

The higher we climbed, the more it became like a desert.

And the temperature seemed strangely higher too.

As I looked around...

“Hey, Baek Jiho! Look over there.”

Choi Yejin, who had been scanning every direction with sharp eyes, called to me.

She pointed toward the eastern horizon.

“Do you see that?”

“What?”

I narrowed my eyes and looked in that direction.

Far away.

Something stood tall in the middle of the wasteland.

At first, I thought it was a huge rocky mountain...

“...?”

But it was not.

It was too straight and magnificent.

Its height was even.

More than anything, it stretched endlessly to either side.

It was too far away to see clearly.

Should we go take a look?

“Iing Iing. Let's go check over there.”

-Iing Iing!

Poro-roong.

Iing Iing activated Psychokinetic Flight.

Our party's bodies suddenly rose into the air.

We flew quickly toward the faint structure in the east.

As we got closer and closer...

The structure gradually came into view.

The first thing we saw was a large, beautiful stone wall standing fifty meters tall.

“...It is Wall-Baek Jiho!”

Wall-Baek Jiho, which I had created yesterday, stood east of the starting point!

It was nice to find it again.

“Keuh! As expected of Extreme Lunatic Hell Construction! Not a single defect after one day! The construction companies in our country that only build shoddy structures should learn from this great one's ability!”

“Wouldn't it be stranger if a fortress wall collapsed after only one day?”

I easily ignored that pathetic objection from someone who knew nothing about construction.

Then we continued toward the wall.

But...

“...Wait.”

The inside of the fortress gradually came into view.

I tilted my head in confusion.

Something was strange.

Until yesterday, that fortress had mostly consisted of tents and shabby buildings.

But now, it was different.

The inside of the wall was packed with buildings.

Roofs of all sizes filled the area without any empty space between them.